But Superman Calls Him Kon
by Adreus
Summary: So what if he's the only one that calls him Kon? That's his name, isn't it? –Dick, Tim/Kon, and I just think he's interesting, Dick, stop looking at me like that!


**Notes: **First time writing Tim… most of my experience with him comes from _Red Robin _and scattered issues of _Robin_, so I'm not sure how well I illustrated his early days on Earth-16, but I went off the vibe I was getting in the first episode of Invasion. I mostly wanted to write the second scene, and the first one just decided it wanted to be written first.

Review, if you can! ;;;

* * *

_But Superman Calls Him Kon_

* * *

Robin has the luxury of being introduced to and joining the team a full month after Wonder Girl and the Blue Beetle, because although Batman and Nightwing thought him ready for fighting crime beside fellow teen heroes, Jack Drake thought him ready for a new cell phone that was guaranteed to keep an eye on your teenager's location 24/7, or your money back. It only took Tim the better part of a day to hack the device, but by then it was too late to Zeta over to meet the team at Mount Justice, and his induction was thus postponed to the following day; and again afterwards; and once more, until finally, Tim gave up on sneaking past his father at so early a time and decided he'd join the team next time Jack left for a business trip.

It comes quickly enough, but somehow Tim's anxiety only grows worse when it does. It's a little backwards: For the past few weeks, Tim's grown more and more comfortable with his position as Robin, more and more comfortable with Dick's brotherhood and Batman's mentorship, but the looming shadow of joining the team remains just as, if not more, intimidating. By the time Jack picks up his suitcases and heads for Chicago and Robin meets Nightwing at the phone booth, it's a miracle Tim hasn't become a neurotic wreck, a mess of _How am I going to balance this with school_?, _What lies will I tell my dad when he comes back?, _and _How the hell am I supposed to take up Dick's legacy under a team that Dick and his friends _founded?

When he admits his nervousness, Dick laughs at him, and though it's warm, it's embarrassing enough to make Tim flush and look away. "You'll be fine, Robin," Dick maintains, and Tim decides to believe him, because the sturdy hand on his shoulder and the unyielding confidence when Dick calls him Robin is ample reassurance.

Then Dick steps behind him and pushes him into the booth, and he's travelling through space and time to Mount Justice, and there are countless scenarios bouncing off the walls of his head before he's zapped inside the Cave and there's Batgirl, ready to receive him. There aren't anywhere near as many people present as he expected; in fact, there's only Miss Martian and Lagoon Boy on Batgirl's one side, holding each other, respectively donning a grin and a warm smile for their new companion, and Superboy on Batgirl's other side, scowling at the couple with arms folded against his chest.

"Guys," speaks Batgirl loudly, hoping that her voice will distract Superboy from his anger long enough to give Robin a greeting. "This is Robin."

And she's successful – Superboy is polite enough to turn his glare in Robin's direction.

"Um," says the newcomer, feeling like his voice is fanning away at the air, thick and humid with tension. "Hey." He looks hopelessly at Batgirl, not sure what he's supposed to say when Superboy's attention returns to the couple; Barbara tries to smile encouragingly, but it's plain even with her cowl on that his attempts in this crowd are going to be fairly useless. Nightwing chooses that moment to appear in the Zeta Tubes, and it's only his energy and charisma that seem to stir the room.

"So, this is the new Robin, eh?" speaks La'gaan, and he lets go of his girlfriend to approach him, surveys Robin with a big, toothy grin that almost makes Tim feel like the guy wants to swallow him up. "You're a _small _fish, aren't you?"

"Size means nothing, La'gaan," Superboy cuts in coldly, and there's a growl in his voice that Robin's been told is natural, and nothing to be worried about; despite its existence, Superboy's grinning for the words with which he follows: "You should know."

"Conner!" M'gann gasps at her ex-boyfriend's quip; La'gaan hisses and draws back from Robin with a glare, and though Robin can feel Nightwing's silent laughter next to him, the team's leader shakes his head at Superboy knowingly. Superboy doesn't apologize; in fact, at having insulted La'gaan he seems satisfied, and steps forward in his rejuvenation to approach Robin with his grin. "Hey, newcomer," he says, extending his arm, "Welcome to the team. Name's Kon-El—but Superman's the only one who bothers with it. Everyone else just calls me Conner."

Robin looks to Nightwing, Dick nods and Tim smiles, and then Robin's shaking Superboy's hand. "Hi, Kon," he says, with confidence alive and beaming, "Name's Tim."

* * *

"So," asks Dick later, when he's in the car to be dropped off two blocks from the Drake residence, "What d'you think?"

"It was okay," says Tim, and then thinks about it for a second, corrects himself, "No, okay, it was awesome." Because meeting the team went a lot better than he expected, and, okay, yeah, he's _excited _about it. See, Dick is cool and Babs is cool but Jaime and Cassie and the others that showed up after some time are actually his age, and it's nice to have friends that he's allowed to complain about Batman to, though Cassie spends a lot of her time asking him about Nightwing and Jaime spends a lot of time talking to himself.

"_Just_ awesome? I saw the way you were looking at Superboy. You called him _Kon_."

Tim flushes. "Well, that's his _name_, isn't it?"

Dick arches an eyebrow. "Sure."

"I just think he's interesting," Tim murmurs. "And he's funny and cool and—wait a second." Tim stops, and Dick looks to his passenger with a knowing smirk. "Why am I even justifying this to you? He's _your_ friend!"

"Yours, now, too," Dick remarks sincerely, and he's looking at Tim with a face that's suggestive and scary and, okay, _Dick—_

"Dick," says Tim. "_Dick_. Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like—like _that_!"

"I'm not looking at you like anything," Dick says innocently, and his attention turns back to the road but the smirk reappears and he actually _giggles_, and, okay, Dick, seriously?

"_What_?" demands Tim, "Why are you _giggling_?"

"You know his ex was the first one to call him Conner?"

There's a pause, and they're lucky they're at a stop light, because Dick sees Tim's face, sees the series of emotions, watches Tim try to speak and fail horrifically, and Dick has a fit in the driver's seat that results in a few accidental honks of the horn and nearly ends in tears.

"You _suck_," Tim announces, crossing his arms and falling back into his seat with a pout.


End file.
